Page 52 of Final Ride

The arraignments were boring as hell. That’s why nobody ever came to watch them. Same old. Stand in front of the judge and enter the plea. Bail or no bail.

The best stuff happened in the parking lot after Susan Mannington made bail and her brother, Matt, came to pick her up.

Both of our prisoners made bail, and they weren’t coming back to our jail. Happy about that, we were getting into the squad when Virge saw Matt open the door of his truck for his sister and then Matt kissed her like guys never kissed their sister.

Unless you were me and Lucy.

“What the fuck?” hollered Virge. “That ain’t his sister.”

“Drive closer and get the fuckin tag on Matt’s truck,” said Travis.

Virge veered over near them and hollered out the letters and the numbers.

Travis punched it in, and the Ford came up registered to Matt Goreman. “His name ain’t Mannington. It’s Goreman.”

“He got a sheet?” I asked.

“Hang on a second.” Travis ran the name through the police database. “Yep. Here he is. Matthew Goreman. Armed robbery.”

“Could’ve been the same convenience store as Miss Susie,” said Virgie.

“Yeah. Coulda been, Virge. Get us back to the station. I’m putting Billy and Ted on Matt Goreman.”

“Copy that, Dad. Making a run to the station.” Virge squealed the tires on the squad as we zoomed out into the street. He made Dad laugh.

Mannington Residence. Shelby. Montana.

Billy and Ted got the job of watching Matt and Susan after Susan was released on bail.

Using Billy’s pickup, they were out of sight parked halfway down the street in a residential part of Shelby.

“This is a good spot,” said Ted. “I’ve got a scope anyway if we need to ID somebody in a hurry.”

“Like who? Some famous robber knocks on Susan’s door?”

Ted laughed. “Yeah, like that.”

Billy and Ted had both finished the coffee they’d brought with them and were thinking of going for more when a van and a pickup pulled into Susan’s driveway.

“Huh,” said Billy. “Looks like they’re having a meeting. Five more guys coming to the party.”

“Susie is the inside person,” said Ted. “Virgie is sure of it.”

“Virge is right more often than not,” said Billy. “He picked Susan and there is a lot of convincing shit circling around her, Ted. I’m starting to think Virge may be right on the money. Now her fake brother is one of the puzzle pieces. They’re a team.”

“Should we pay another call on the casino boss and tell him the thing is heating up?”

Billy shrugged. “What’s the point? We tried to help him, and he laughed in our faces. Said the casino couldn’t be robbed.”

“Guess we’ll let them have at it then,” said Ted. “We can’t arrest this bunch. Not yet anyway. Talking about a robbery ain’t much to bring them in on. They haven’t committed a crime.”

“Not yet,” said Billy.

Wait for it…

Maynooth. Northern Ontario.

Bobby decided he had nowhere better to go so he headed for the cabin in Northern Ontario that Tammy talked about all the time when they were a couple.

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